10 modern engineering marvels every traveler should see

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Langkawi Sky Bridge, Langkawi, Malaysia: I love pedestrian-only bridges because you don't have to deal with pollution, noise and traffic when you walk across them. My favorite is Langkawi Sky Bridge, a spectacular span that curves over Malaysia's Machinchang Mountain, offering expansive sea and jungle views. The cable car to the top is an experience in itself. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Hoover Dam, Nevada: The Hoover Dam is almost too well-known for its own good, but that doesn't diminish what an extraordinary engineering feat it is. Tours take visitors 530 feet down through the canyon wall to a viewing point where 90,000 gallons of water whoosh past every second, providing electricity for three states. The dam tour gets bonus points for inclusion in the Percy Jackson book series; you can check out the engineering, and your kids can picture scenes from the book. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Millau Viaduct, Millau, France: This incredible bridge, which is not open to pedestrians, is the tallest bridge in the world at 1,125 feet. You will certainly want to drive over it, but you'll get a better view from the roads and villages nearby, and best of all from the footpath that descends from the visitor center on the northern side of the bridge. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Palm Islands, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Talk about a planned community! It's hard to say if these unique islands appear more utopian or dystopian, but there's no denying the ingenuity involved. They're best seen from the air, either by hiring a seaplane or helicopter, or from the restaurant on the 52nd floor of the nearby Harbour Residence and Spa Hotel. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Another viewing point for the Palm Islands is the observation deck of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Why go see it? The building is more than a half-mile high and has more than 160 stories; visiting the observation deck is an almost dizzying experience. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Panama Canal, Panama: If a ride through the Panama Canal is on your bucket list, you've got plenty of choices; dozens of cruise ships traverse this 48-mile, entirely manmade waterway each year. The cargo ships that also frequent the canal are modern engineering marvels in themselves; in fact, many are specifically constructed to be the maximum size that will fit through the canal locks, and have been given the name "Panamax" ships as a result. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Large Hadron Collider, Geneva: The Large Hadron Collider is the rare scientific research structure that is almost a household name, such is its stature among engineering feats. The 17-mile-long collider is used to accelerate sub-atomic particles such as the Higgs boson, or so-called "God particle," to reveal information about how these particles behave. The collider is located more than 500 feet under the ground straddling the France-Switzerland border. In 2013, CERN (the European Council for Nuclear Research) opened the accelerator to tours for the first time. Tours of the actual accelerator occur only when it isn't in use, the next instance of which will be winter of 2018, according to a CERN spokesperson. However, there's a visitor center where you can learn more about the accelerator and CERN's work. Martial Trezzini, AP

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Louisiana: Bridges that pass over long expanses of water can be at first disorienting, then strangely calming; it's like being well out to sea, without all the pitching and yawing. My favorite such bridge is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, one of the world's longest. It spans nearly 24 miles of Lake Pontchartain in Louisiana, including a stretch of 8 miles where you cannot see land at all. Getty Images/iStockphoto

An Amazon fulfillment center, various locations: If you want to see the future of work and business, a visit to an Amazon fulfillment center might be all you need. The extensive use of robots alongside previously unthinkable levels of efficiency is a perfect display of how our world works right now. Go to AmazonFCTours.com to schedule a tour. Michael Schennum, The Arizona Republic

The Channel Tunnel, English Channel: This is among the easiest modern engineering marvels to bag during your travels — you can take a car, bus or train right through. It mostly looks like, well, a tunnel, but it's still worth skipping the plane to experience. Completed almost 200 years after it was first proposed by Albert Mathieu in 1802, the 31-mile tunnel goes 250 feet under the sea bed to connect England to France (or France to England, depending on your perspective). The tunnel is equipped with cell antennae to boot, so you don't even have to go off the grid. Denis Charlet, AFP/Getty Images

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

Hoover Dam, Nevada: The Hoover Dam is almost too well-known for its own good, but that doesn't diminish what an extraordinary engineering feat it is. Tours take visitors 530 feet down through the canyon wall to a viewing point where 90,000 gallons of water whoosh past every second, providing electricity for three states. The dam tour gets bonus points for inclusion in the Percy Jackson book series; you can check out the engineering, and your kids can picture scenes from the book.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Beaches, national parks or ancient temples be many folks’ idea of an ideal tourism destination, but for others, nothing beats oohing and ahhing over a marvel of modern engineering. There are plenty of engineering triumphs on the standard tourism list — the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge — but for travelers who’ve already been there and done those, below are 10 other modern engineering marvels that are well worth a visit.

Keep in mind that such structures sometimes require significant maintenance and repair efforts that might shut down the facility and/or cancel tours, so check ahead of time for any closures. Also, many of the projects have had considerable environmental and social impact on their communities that is still a point of debate in some cases. It’s worth knowing about these issues when you decide to visit these modern engineering marvels.

Millau Viaduct, Millau
France
This incredible bridge, which is not open to pedestrians, is the tallest bridge in the world at 1,125 feet. You will certainly want to drive over it, but you'll get a better view from the roads and villages nearby, and best of all from the footpath that descends from the visitor center on the northern side of the bridge.

Hoover Dam
Nevada
The Hoover Dam is almost too well-known for its own good, but that doesn't diminish what an extraordinary engineering feat it is. Tours take visitors 530 feet down through the canyon wall to a viewing point where 90,000 gallons of water whoosh past every second, providing electricity for three states. The dam tour gets bonus points for inclusion in the Percy Jackson book series; you can check out the engineering, and your kids can picture scenes from the book.

Palm Islands
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Talk about a planned community! It's hard to say if these unique islands appear more utopian or dystopian, but there's no denying the ingenuity involved. They're best seen from the air, either by hiring a seaplane or helicopter, or from the restaurant on the 52nd floor of the nearby Harbour Residence and Spa Hotel.

Burj Khalifa
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Another viewing point for the Palm Islands is the observation deck of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Why go see it? The building is more than a half-mile high and has more than 160 stories; visiting the observation deck is an almost dizzying experience.

Langkawi Sky Bridge
Langkawi, Malaysia
I love pedestrian-only bridges because you don't have to deal with pollution, noise and traffic when you walk across them. My favorite is Langkawi Sky Bridge, a spectacular span that curves over Malaysia's Machinchang Mountain, offering expansive sea and jungle views. The cable car to the top is an experience in itself.

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Loen Skylift, Loen, Norway: Opened in May 2017, the new Loen Skylift in the heart of Fjord Norway is being billed as the world’s steepest aerial tram. The cable car ascends almost completely vertically up 3,300 feet from the village of Loen and along the sheer face of Mount Hoven to the top. It’s a stunning five-minute ride. “The view is breathtaking, with beautiful fjords in all directions, spectacular mountains and the Jostedalsbreen Glacier as a backdrop,” says Kristian Jorgensen, director of Fjord Norway. Loen Skylift

Mi Teleferico Cable Car, La Paz, Bolivia: Traffic jams are awful in downtown La Paz, a city with about the same population as San Francisco. But every hour thousands of locals cut their commute time from an hour to 10 minutes by hopping on the Mi Teleferico cable car network. Because the funiculars are part of the public transit system, the fares are cheap, an anomaly among scenic cable cars around the world. The Mi Teleferico is one of the world’s highest and longest urban gondolas, which also makes it one of the most affordable ways to see the city, deep canyons and the Andes Mountains all at the same time. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Sugarloaf Mountain Bondinho, Rio de Janeiro: For more than 100 years, cable cars have toted locals and visitors to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio’s landmark granite monolith that rises straight out of the Atlantic Ocean. The Sugarloaf Mountain Bondinho runs a 4,600-foot route from Morro da Urca to the top of Sugarloaf, overlooking the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, the Corcovado mountains and downtown. On a clear day you can see airplane after airplane bank and circle below you for the final approach into the city airport. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Peak 2 Peak Gondola, Whistler, Canada: To save time at the massive two-peaked Whistler Blackcomb resort, skiers and snowboarders used to have to pick either Whistler Mountain or Blackcomb Mountain for the day and stick to it. Then came the Peak 2 Peak Gondola in 2008, cable cars that connect the two peaks with an 11-minute ride. The 2.7-mile cable car is the world’s longest unsupported span for a lift of this kind. Dangling, you feel like you’re flying through the clouds. From both regular and glass-bottom cabins, sightseers look onto coastal rainforests, glaciers, blooming wildflowers and the occasional bear munching on berries. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Ngong Ping 360, Lantau Island, Hong Kong: See a handful of China’s iconic scenes all in one ride on the 3.5-mile Ngong Ping 360 cable car route. The 25-minute lift from Tung Chung to the Ngong Ping Plateau on Lantau Island offers views of the South China Sea, rolling grassland slopes, mountainous terrain, the busy city and the massive Tian Tan Buddha statue. It’s close enough to the airport that you can see the runways and what look like toy planes landing one after the other. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Cape Town, South Africa: Thanks to Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, built in 1929, millions of people have been to the top of South Africa’s most photographed landmark, the 3,573-foot-tall Table Mountain. The cableway’s rotating cars ensure that every passenger gets equal time during the five-minute ascent to take in views in every direction: the sheer cliff face of Table Mountain, the city and Table Bay below. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Palm Springs, Calif.: The plan to build a tramway in the California desert was hatched in 1935 when a young electrical engineer wiped the sweat from his brow, looked up to Mount San Jacinto’s snow-capped peak, and longed to “go up there where it’s nice and cool.” Since the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway opened in 1963, nearly 18 million people have escaped the desert heat on this 10-minute, 2.5-mile ride. The large rotating cars whisk passengers above the Chino Canyon cliffs to the top of Mount San Jacinto, where it’s about 30 degrees cooler at 8,516 feet elevation. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Langkawi SkyCab, Langkawi Island, Malaysia: Off the northwest coast of Malaysia at the Thailand border is a gorgeous archipelago of 104 islands. Langkawi SkyCab on Langkawi Island lifts you to dreamlike views over these emerald islets on a 15-minute ride up Machinchang Mountain to 2,323 feet. Along the way you’ll see isolated pinnacles, deep chasms, white-sand beaches, rice paddy fields and lush mangroves. If you’re celebrating a special occasion or planning a proposal, upgrade to a glass-bottomed gondola or VIP gondola with music and food. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Skyline Gondola, Queenstown, New Zealand: This steep gondola climbs 1,476 feet above Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu to the top of Bob’s Peak. The views of surrounding mountains are spectacular, but looking down on the city of Queenstown is the biggest surprise. Ride the Skyline Gondola at sunset and you’ll see the twinkling lights of the city flicker on as the light fades. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Cabrio, Stans, Switzerland: For a wind-in-your-hair experience, head to Switzerland’s Cabrio cable car. Like a convertible car or an open-air, double-decker bus, Cabrio carries you up Mount Stanserhorn high above the sparkling Lake Lucerne in six minutes. The roofless upper deck, with room for 30 people, is ideal for taking in the fresh mountain air and snapping photos without a glass barrier. Getting to the top is a two-step process. The journey begins with a funicular ride to Kalti, where you connect to the cable car lift to the peak. It’s an easy day trip from Lucerne. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

The Channel Tunnel
English Channel
This is among the easiest modern engineering marvels to bag during your travels — you can take a car, bus or train right through. It mostly looks like, well, a tunnel, but it's still worth skipping the plane to experience. Completed almost 200 years after it was first proposed by Albert Mathieu in 1802, the 31-mile tunnel goes 250 feet under the sea bed to connect England to France (or France to England, depending on your perspective). The tunnel is equipped with cell antennae to boot, so you don't even have to go off the grid.

Large Hadron Collider
Geneva
The Large Hadron Collider is the rare scientific research structure that is almost a household name, such is its stature among engineering feats. The 17-mile-long collider is used to accelerate sub-atomic particles such as the Higgs boson, or so-called "God particle," to reveal information about how these particles behave. The collider is located more than 500 feet under the ground straddling the France-Switzerland border.

In 2013, CERN (the European Council for Nuclear Research) opened the accelerator to tours for the first time. Tours of the actual accelerator occur only when it isn't in use, the next instance of which will be winter of 2018, according to a CERN spokesperson. However, there's a visitor center where you can learn more about the accelerator and CERN's work.

Panama Canal
Panama
If a ride through the Panama Canal is on your bucket list, you've got plenty of choices; dozens of cruise ships traverse this 48-mile, entirely manmade waterway each year. The cargo ships that also frequent the canal are modern engineering marvels in themselves; in fact, many are specifically constructed to be the maximum size that will fit through the canal locks, and have been given the name "Panamax" ships as a result.

Crossing the Pacific Ocean approach to the Panama Canal, the Bridge of the Americas has a clearance of 201 feet -- one of several limiting factors in the size of ships that can travel through the canal. Gene Sloan, USA TODAY

Celebrity Millennium passengers in late 2013 view new locks under construction near the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. The locks are part of an expansion project opening in 2016. Gene Sloan, USA TODAY

At 106 feet wide, the Celebrity Millennium just barely fits into the 110-foot-wide Miraflores Locks, which are among the original locks built for the canal a century ago. Launched in 2000, the ship is a "Panamax" vessel -- that is, it was built to the maximum size allowed in the canal's original locks. Gene Sloan, USA TODAY

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
Louisiana
Bridges that pass over long expanses of water can be at first disorienting, then strangely calming; it's like being well out to sea, without all the pitching and yawing. My favorite such bridge is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, one of the world's longest. It spans nearly 24 miles of Lake Pontchartain in Louisiana, including a stretch of 8 miles where you cannot see land at all.

An Amazon fulfillment center
Various locations
If you want to see the future of work and business, a visit to an Amazon fulfillment center might be all you need. The extensive use of robots alongside previously unthinkable levels of efficiency is a perfect display of how our world works right now. Go to AmazonFCTours.com to schedule a tour.